North Korea
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 3
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · A commentary on Korean Criminal Law considers the use...
- News items in the archive
- 263
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
North Korea is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 3 the year before. The archive holds 263 news items on North Korea, from 1999 to today.
No verifiable data exists on North Korea: no official statistics, no independent access, no trial records that can be consulted. The information comes from people who have fled the country, from international organisations and from United Nations reports, which have documented executions, including public ones, and for conduct that in most legal systems is not a crime at all.
The news on this page should be read with that caveat.
Latest news
MAY 3, 2021North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: KIM JONG UN 'HAS OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR IMPORTING CHEAP CHINESE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT’
North Korea has executed a party official after he defied Kim Jong-un in the hope of getting an empty showpiece hospital opened to patients, South Korea's Daily NK newspaper reported on 23 April 2021.
APRIL 10, 2021North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: AUTHORITIES EXECUTE CHAIRMAN OF ‘DISTANCE EDUCATION ACT’ COMMISSION
Daily NK learned on 9 April 2021 that following an Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) investigation into the Ministry of Higher Education’s “non-standing commission for the implementation of the Distance Education Act,” North Korean authorities la
MARCH 13, 2021North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: FOUR PUBLICLY EXECUTED IN PYONGYANG ON CHARGES OF DISTRIBUTING ‘ILLEGAL VIDEO MATERIALS’
Four North Koreans were publicly executed in Pyongyang recently on charges of distributing “illegal video materials,” Daily NK has learned.
- DECEMBER 20, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: FISHING FLEET CAPTAIN EXECUTED FOR LISTENING TO RFA
Authorities in North Korea executed the owner of a fishing fleet in front of 100 boat captains and fisheries executives for secretly listening to broadcasts by Radio Free Asia and other forbidden media outlets while at sea.
DECEMBER 5, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: CITIZEN PUBLICLY EXECUTED FOR BREAKING COVID RESTRICTION RULES
North Korea held a public execution by firing squad on 28 November 2020 to punish a breach of coronavirus rules, insiders in the country say.
DECEMBER 1, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: FOUR SOLDIERS EXECUTED FOR TAKING PART IN HYESAN INCIDENT
Two border guard officers and two rank-and-file soldiers implicated in the recent smuggling case that prompted a lockdown on the city of Hyesan on 22 November 2020 were executed by firing squad, a Daily NK source in Yanggang Province has reported.
- NOVEMBER 30, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: TWO PEOPLE EXECUTED, SEOUL’S SPY AGENCY DAYS
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered at least two people executed, banned fishing at sea and locked down the capital, Pyongyang.
- OCTOBER 11, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: KIM SHOWED OFF EXECUTED UNCLE'S HEADLESS BODY, TRUMP SAID
The headless body of Kim Jong Un’s executed uncle was displayed to senior North Korean officials, U.S. President Donald Trump told the author of an upcoming book on the U.S. president, Afp reported on 12 September 2020.
SEPTEMBER 19, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: SIX PUBLICLY EXECUTED FOR SEX TRAFFICKING, INCLUDING FOUR OFFICIALS
North Korea on 20 July 2020 publicly executed six people, including four party officials, for their involvement in a prostitution ring that sold sex with female students of prestigious performing arts universities, sources in the country told RFA.
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: FIVE OFFICIALS EXECUTED FOR CRITICISING KIM JONG-UN'S ECONOMIC POLICIES
North Korea on 30 July 2020 executed five government officials after they spoke out against the regime's economic policies, it has been reported.
MAY 25, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: COUPLE EXECUTED FOR TRYING TO ESCAPE TO SOUTH DURING COVID-19 EMERGENCY
North Korean authorities earlier this month executed a husband and wife for attempting to flee the country during the COVID-19 national emergency quarantine, sources in the country told RFA.
MAY 12, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: BUSINESSMAN EXECUTED FOR REFUSING TO BUY GOV’T BONDS
The owner of mine shafts in a suburban area of Pyongyang who refused to buy government bonds was recently arrested and quietly executed, Daily NK has learned.
- MAY 11, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
DEATH PENALTY PREVAILS IN NORTH KOREA, WHITE PAPER SAYS
Capital punishment is still widespread in North Korea, but public executions and other forms of severe punishment could be receding, according to a South Korean report.
- MAY 9, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: CHAGANG PROVINCE FORESTRY OFFICIAL EXECUTED FOR ILLEGAL CORN FARM
The head of a local forest management office in Chagang Province was recently executed for removing saplings from state-owned land and planting corn in their place, Daily NK reported on 16 April 2020.
- APRIL 8, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: THREE OFFICIALS EXECUTED FOR THEFT OF EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLIES
Authorities in North Korea executed without trial three high-ranking officials last week on charges of treason, for allegedly stealing food from the country’s strategic supply and selling it on the open market amid skyrocketing prices resulting from the o
MARCH 24, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: SMUGGLER EXECUTED AFTER CROSSING SINO-NORTH KOREAN BORDER
A smuggler in his 50s was recently executed in North Pyongan Province, sources told Daily NK earlier in March 2020.
- FEBRUARY 14, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: OFFICIAL REPORTEDLY EXECUTED FOR BREAKING CORONAVIRUS QUARANTINE
A North Korean official who returned from China has reportedly been executed for going to a public bath in violation of his Coronavirus quarantine, the Dong-a Ilbo news outlet in South Korea reported on 13 February 2020.
- JANUARY 1, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
North Korea denies holding any political prisoners.
North Korea denies holding any political prisoners.
JUNE 5, 2019North KoreaDEATH PENALTYSUPPOSEDLY EXECUTED FORMER NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR ENVOY IS ALIVE: CNN
North Korea’s nuclear envoy, who a South Korean newspaper said last week had been executed, is alive but in custody and under investigation for his role in a failed summit with the United States, CNN reported on 4 June 2019.
- MAY 31, 2019North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA EXECUTES 5 OFFICIALS OVER FAILED KIM-TRUMP SUMMIT: SOUTH KOREAN MEDIA
North Korea has executed five officials for their part in the failed second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Yong-un according to a South Korean newspaper.
- APRIL 27, 2019North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA ‘EXECUTED FOUR OFFICIALS’ AFTER FAILED US SUMMIT, REPORT CLAIMS
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered the execution by firing squad of four foreign ministry officials after the failure of his Hanoi summit with Donald Trump, a report has claimed.
- APRIL 11, 2019North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: PUBLIC EXECUTIONS STAGED TO STRENGTHEN ‘SOCIAL ORDER’
North Korean authorities staged a public trial and shot two female fortune tellers to death last month, forcing tens of thousands of people to watch, in what appeared to be a resumption of public executions.
- JANUARY 1, 2019North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
North Korea denies holding any political prisoners.
North Korea denies holding any political prisoners.
- DECEMBER 24, 2018North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: FORTUNE TELLER EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD
The North Korean authorities have recently focused on cracking down on “acts of superstition” leading to the execution of a fortune teller in the Chongjin and the arrest of other fortune tellers in Onsong and Hoeryong who are awaiting trial, the Daily NK
- DECEMBER 11, 2018North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: SERIAL RAPIST PUBLICLY EXECUTED
A serial rapist who raped nine women in North Hamgyong Province’s Onsong County has been publicly executed by firing squad, local sources have reported.
- JUNE 27, 2018North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Kim Jong-un has top army officer blasted with 90 bullets for giving his troops extra rations of food and fuel
27th June 2018: Lieutenant General Hyon Ju-song was put to death after being found guilty of charges of abusing authority, profiting the enemy and engaging in anti-Party acts.
- JANUARY 1, 2018North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
North Korea denies holding any political prisoners.
North Korea denies holding any political prisoners.
- AUGUST 31, 2017North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
PYONGYANG ‘SENTENCES’ FOUR SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALISTS TO DEATH
Pyongyang has sentenced four South Korean journalists to death for book reviews that insulted the North, state media said.
- JULY 19, 2017North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA: FIRING SQUAD CARRIES OUT PUBLIC EXECUTIONS IN SCHOOL YARDS, REPORT SAYS
Kim Jong Un's brutal North Korean regime shot so-called "criminals" to death in schoolyards and fish markets in a twisted attempt to create an "atmosphere of fear" throughout the dictatorship, a report from a human rights group revealed.
- MAY 31, 2017North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
NORTH KOREA ENACTS DEATH PENALTY FOR DISTRIBUTING FOREIGN MEDIA
Circulating Hollywood movies or South Korean television dramas may be punishable by death in North Korea, although more North Koreans have access to media from the outside world.